UDJOURFY - BA (Hons) Journalism (including foundation year)
Course Specification
Validation status | Validated | |||||||||||
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Highest award | Bachelor of Arts | Level | Honours | |||||||||
Possible interim awards | ||||||||||||
Total credits for course | 480 | |||||||||||
Awarding institution | London Metropolitan University | |||||||||||
Teaching institutions | London Metropolitan University | |||||||||||
School | School of Computing and Digital Media | |||||||||||
Subject Area | Creative Technologies and Digital Media | |||||||||||
Attendance options |
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Course leader |
About the course and its strategy towards teaching and learning and towards blended learning/e-learning
The BA Journalism focuses on developing critical inquiry and professional skills, both of which are essential to success in the field of journalism. Writing is paramount in journalism, even in today’s convergent media world, so you will learn a range of writing techniques, from academic essays to snappy tweets. Curiosity about and knowledge of a wide knowledge of social and historical contexts is also crucial in developing professional journalistic practice within today’s fast-changing industry,
as is an understanding of ethics and law in the post-Leveson media geography, as well as post-Trump fake news challenges.
Using a mixture of workshops, simulations, seminar discussions and exposition, the course is taught by respected, experienced practitioners. Every session makes use of blended learning, particularly via class blogs and the course website, and many modules are taught within the multimedia newsroom, TV studio or radio studio. Team working and collaboration, among other key social skills like the ability to gain interviews, present oneself successfully and sell ideas, are developed through class exercises and newsdays. Event-led news weeks are a unique feature of the course.
Guest speakers and field trips stimulate engagement with the world of work, as does a compulsory work placement module. Connections with student media develop professional skills in and outside formal teaching.
Learning strategies on the course are designed to promote transferable skills of communication, independent thinking, the ability to work effectively with others, work planning and independent responsibility. Student feedback and engagement with teaching and learning strategies are promoted via student representatives and course committees, as well as online resources. Learning journals create a positive ongoing engagement between tutor and student.
Course aims
The course aims:
- To develop students’ writing skills so that they can write accurately and fluently in a variety of formats, including academic essays, news items, headlines, features, reviews, reports, commentaries, blogs, tweets, interviews, profiles, investigations, critiques, comments, columns, nibs, campaigns and any other formats chosen – to deadline and to length;
- To equip students with the newsgathering tools to research the background data and risk implications of any journalistic task they may have to do;
- To familiarise students with the history and ideas important to understanding the practice of journalism in the UK today, as well as globally, so that they have an analytical framework with which to grasp their role within the industry;
- To familiarise students with the history and ideas important to understanding the legal and political systems in the UK today, as well as globally, so that they have an analytical framework and practical knowledge with which to grasp and practice effectively their role within society;
- To develop students’ social skills so that they can interview primary sources face to face, over the phone, via email and social media and so that they can pitch ideas and presentations to possible employers;
- To develop their powers of argument, analysis, narrative and sequencing so that they can construct effective, substantiated content for different audiences;
- To introduce and promote the technical skills essential for any career in convergent media – text, audio, video;
- To foster students’ independence as learners and practitioners, especially through individual projects;
- To foster collaboration as learners and practitioners, especially through group work and simulations;
- To offer the opportunity for monitored work placements, extension of knowledge skills and publication within and outside the course website;
- To develop students’ own understanding of their work so that they can produce it and target it to a range of media audiences, specialist and non-specialist,
- To offer them the chance to progress towards more specialised accredited learning.
Course learning outcomes
On successful completion of this course students will be able to:
ULO: Demonstrate confidence, resilience, ambition and creativity and will act as inclusive, collaborative and socially responsible practitioners/professionals in their discipline.
- deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within Journalism;
- devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of Journalism;
- describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in Journalism, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge;
- manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to [the subject]);
- apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects;
- critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem;
- communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;
- exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts,
- undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature.
Principle QAA benchmark statements
Communication, Media, Film and Cultural Studies [Dec-2019]
Guidance at:
https://bit.ly/3ggG0ob
The above latest subject benchmark statement and general guidance available are used in the design, delivery and review of the course and in facilitating the knowledge and skills normally expected of a typical course graduate.
Assessment strategy
The course uses a wide range of assessments, from online journals and contributions to the course website to academic essays, from video footage and sound recordings to magazine and website layouts, class presentations and pop quizzes, in-class examination and longform writing.
Assessment develops within a coaching model, with formative assessment being offered at drafting and intermediate submission, both face to face and electronically. News and enhancement weeks offer the chance to receive formative assessment whilst engaged on simulations, newsdays and practical activities.
Since much teaching is run on an interactive coaching model, tutorials are built into class sessions as well as offered privately. Feedback on summative assessment is given within one week of submission for the first instance and thereafter two weeks.
Most modules include a reflective assessment, where students evaluate their own contribution to class via an online journal moderated by tutors.
Organised work experience, work based learning, sandwich year or year abroad
A compulsory work experience placement in the second year is credited within the course. News days and news weeks are simulations which offer work-based learning. The London Met Journalism Diversity Network is instrumental in helping students find suitable placements.
The course includes information, training and advice on employability, job applications, CVs and finances. Simulation of the work environment also includes job applications and interviews.
Course specific regulations
There are two PSRB requirements to get accreditation from the Broadcast Journalism Training Council. For module SJ5033: Media Law and Ethics: Public Administration - the media law exam must be passed to pass the module. For module SJ5W78: Journalism Work Placement: the number of placement weeks has been raised from two to three (15 days total instead of 10).
Modules required for interim awards
Cert Ed: All modules specified at L4.
Dip Higher Ed: Credits specified at L4 and L5
BA without hons: Credits specified at L4, L5 and 60 credit core modules at L6
BA hons: all credits specified in Course Spec.
Arrangements for promoting reflective learning and personal development
All modules, apart from the final project, include an online journal, to be completed at the end of each class. Tutors give formative comments before the next class. This ensures a virtuous circle of feedback, allows students to let their tutors what parts of their learning they feel competent about and which areas may need more attention. It helps include students as partners, as it can contribute to the next week’s learning session. It also forms part of assessment, so contributes to students’ ownership of their progress.
Students’ personal blogs and the course website are repositories for successful work, creating portfolios. Students are also asked to design portfolio websites in their second year, where they can showcase published work as well as their CVs. This provides a helpful tool that is useful in gaining work placements as well as jobs after graduation.
Other external links providing expertise and experience
The course is expected to gain accreditation from the Broadcast Journalism Training Council beginning in 2021-2022.
Career, employability and opportunities for continuing professional development
The course is entirely work-focused. Graduates have moved into a variety of communications fields: advertising, public relations, social media, business communications, media production and journalism. A sizable number have gone on to further higher education degrees. Notable alumni destinations include those working for the Economist, Newsweek, BBC radio and IBtimes.
Professional Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB) accreditations & exemptions
We're currently in the process of applying for accreditation by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council.
Career opportunities
The range of skills and knowledge you’ll gain by the time you graduate will allow you to pursue a career in the following fields:
- journalism
- TV
- radio
- online media
- PR
- media consultancy
- marketing
- social media
This degree will also open doors for postgraduate study in media, journalism or film studies.
Entry requirements
In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:
- at least one A level (or a minimum of 32 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg BTEC Subsidiary/National/BTEC Extended Diploma)
- English Language and Mathematics GCSE at grade C/4 or above (or equivalent, eg Functional Skills at Level 2), if you meet UCAS points criteria but obtained a grade D/3 in English and/or Maths at GCSE you may be offered a University test in these areas
Official use and codes
Approved to run from | 2019/20 | Specification version | 1 | Specification status | Validated |
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Original validation date | 25 Jul 2019 | Last validation date | 25 Jul 2019 | ||
Sources of funding | HE FUNDING COUNCIL FOR ENGLAND | ||||
JACS codes | |||||
Route code | JOURFY |
Stage 1 Level 03 September start Offered
Code | Module title | Info | Type | Credits | Location | Period | Day | Time |
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SJ3050 | Introduction: Journalism and Writing for the Media | Core | 15 | NORTH | AUT | THU | PM | |
SJ3051 | Journalism and Professional Writing | Core | 15 | NORTH | SPR | TUE | AM | |
SM3017 | Introduction: Media and Communications | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | WED | AM | |
SM3018 | Introduction : Film, TV and Broadcast Media | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | TUE | AM | |
NORTH | AUT+SPR | TUE | PM | |||||
SM3019 | Introduction: Digital Media | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | WED | PM |
Stage 1 Level 03 January start Not currently offered
Code | Module title | Info | Type | Credits | Location | Period | Day | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SJ3050 | Introduction: Journalism and Writing for the Media | Core | 15 | |||||
SJ3051 | Journalism and Professional Writing | Core | 15 | |||||
SM3017 | Introduction: Media and Communications | Core | 30 | |||||
SM3018 | Introduction : Film, TV and Broadcast Media | Core | 30 | |||||
SM3019 | Introduction: Digital Media | Core | 30 |
Stage 2 Level 04 September start Offered
Code | Module title | Info | Type | Credits | Location | Period | Day | Time |
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SJ4034 | Journalism: History and Ideas | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | TUE | PM | |
SJ4035 | Practical Journalism | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | WED | AM | |
SJ4037 | Writing Skills | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | THU | AM | |
SJ4048 | Reporting and Photography Skills | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | FRI | AM |
Stage 3 Level 05 September start Offered
Code | Module title | Info | Type | Credits | Location | Period | Day | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SJ5033 | Media Law and Ethics; Public Administration | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | THU | AM | |
SJ5034 | Newsroom Production | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | TUE | AM | |
NORTH | AUT+SPR | TUE | PM | |||||
SJ5035 | Advanced Reporting | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | WED | PM | |
SJ5W78 | Journalism Work Placement | Core | 15 | NORTH | SPR | WED | AM | |
SJ5079 | Styling and Journalism | Option | 15 | NORTH | AUT | FRI | AM | |
SM5072 | Documentary Photography | Option | 15 | NORTH | AUT | THU | PM |
Stage 4 Level 06 September start Offered
Code | Module title | Info | Type | Credits | Location | Period | Day | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SJ6034 | Creating Packages | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | WED | AM | |
SJ6035 | Broadcast Journalism | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | THU | AM | |
SJ6P35 | Journalism Project | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | WED | PM | |
SJ6074 | Arts Journalism | Option | 15 | NORTH | SPR | FRI | AM | |
SJ6080 | Campaigning Journalism | Option | 15 | NORTH | AUT | TUE | AM | |
SJ6086 | Fashion Writing and Reporting | Option | 15 | NORTH | AUT | FRI | PM |